After finishing his Laba porridge, Pan Long prepared to set off for home.
The first to leave was "White Tiger Star, the Hero of Yun Province." On the ninth day of the twelfth lunar month, this rising Innate Master departed Guangling City amid the farewells of his disciples and granddisciples.
From Guangling to Yun Province, if time was no concern, the best route was to travel upstream along the Heaven-Reaching River to Dream Marsh or Pengze, cross the vast wetlands, then take Nine Provinces Avenue to Yun Province.
Of course, someone with formidable martial arts could simply keep following the Heaven-Reaching River upstream, pass through the raging currents of Heaven's Wrath Gorge, and trace that rolling flood through the rugged mountains until the river made its great southward bend. From there, they could leave the river and head straight south.
But that route was fraught with danger. The upper reaches of the Heaven-Reaching River in particular were sparsely populated and teeming with Demons. Many powerful Monsters and Demons lurked beneath the water. Even a True Person Grandmaster would have to be careful. For an Innate Master, taking that route was little different from courting death.
White Tiger Star did not take the water route. He had less than a month and needed to make every day count.
So, after leaving Guangling City, he crossed the Heaven-Reaching River, headed south along Nine Provinces Avenue to southern Yang Province, then turned west toward Jing Province. From there, he would cross Jing Province and reach Yun Province.
The entire route followed major roads and was quite safe. A martial arts expert who did not care about exhausting himself could sprint the whole way and arrive in roughly ten days.
But even an Innate Master, for all his endurance, would collapse from fatigue after